Theater-chair.



F. J. KERBEL.

THEATER CHAIR.

APPLICATION FILED 1AN.5,1915.

Patented Mar. 21, 1916.

WITNESSES.

Ill/VENTOR Fredric/i J Aerfiel m A TTOR/VEY THE COLUMBIA PLANOGRAPH 50..WASHINGTON. D. c

I ls

" 49 invention 'by a View vertical mid- FREDRICK J. KERBEIL, or SEATTLE,wnsnme'ron, ASSIGNOR 'i'o ROBERT J. NOIDERER,

on SEATTLE, WASHINGTON.

THEATER-CHAIR.

To all whomit may concern? 1 Beit knownthat LFnnnnioK J. KERBEL,citizen" of the United States residing at seattleyin the county of Kingand State of Washington, have invented a certain new and usefulImprovement in Theater-Chairs, f whichthe following is a specification.

My invention relates to improvements in chairs that are adapted for usein theaters, music-halls and like places of public assembly and theobject of my improvement is" to provide chairs which are soconstructed-that they can be disposed within an auditorium in series ofrows, which rows may be disposedcloser" together than has been possiblewith theater chairs heretofore employed, Without discommoding theocciipants of such chairs, and which are adaptedfto permit suchoccupants to remain seatedw'h'ile per's'onsare traversing throughthespacebe'tween them and backs of the Qchai'rsin the rowdmhie'dizitelyin front of them; a'nda "further object of my improvemeats isto providesuch chairs 'eachwith a seat ands chair-backof such form as will adaptthem to be suspended in such manner thatsuch se'a't'and chair back maybe caused toswi'ng 'backwardly from their normal positions withoutengaging with a raised portiori of a floor that may bepr'ese'ntimmediately back of such chairg'asmight'be the case when rows of suchchairs are disposed in a baiconyofan auditoriunigand as will adaptthmfto resist sidewise' and torsional o'veiiients in response tomovementsofthe occupant. I attain these objects 'bv devices illustratedin the accompanying; drawings ifiwhich p Figure 1 ilhistrates a chairembod in section showing some parts inv side elevationj Fig. 2 is afragmentary 'view of the same in vertical sectionon broken line '00, mof Fig.1; F ig. 31s a fragmentary view in "horizontal se'ctir'in' ofthef same I showing parts-on broken line 2, 2 of F 2; Fig. 4 is afragmentary view in verticalsection showing parts of the same on brokenline g Qg of Fig.1, and Fig. 5 isa fragmentary view in horizontalsection on broken line w of Fig. 1, showing other parts of same?Referring'to the drawings, throughout wh'ich like' referencei'numeralsindicate like parts; 6* indicates" one of the two verticalSpecificat-ionof Letters Patent.

Application filed January 5, 1915.

the

Patented Mai. 21, 1916.

Serial No. 579.

side portions of a chair frame which may be secured to the floor of anauditorium by screws (not shown) which may extend through holes 7 thatare disposed in the flanges atits bottom end and which two side portionsmay be rigidly connected together at a suitable distance by a crossbrace8 which is secured to the rear edges of said side portions.- These sideportions are preferably of cast-iron 'and are each provided with flangesthat extend around its edges, as shown, and are further provided eachwith an arm-rest 9, preferably of wood, which is disposed securely onits to edge.

Two suspension bars10 and 11 are pivotally suspended from bosses 12disposed on the inner side of each of the side portions 6 of the chairframe in positions parallel with each other to adapt them to swingbackwardly and forwardly in a plane that is parallel with the planes ofsaid sideportions 6, and such bars 10 and 11 are each secured in itsposition on its respective boss 12 by means ofa screw and a washer 13which is provided with a dowel pin 14 that projects into the boss 12 toprevent said washer'13 from turning in response to friction due to aswinging of the bar 10, as more clearlv shown in Fig. 3. r

A chair-back 16 is provided with two supporting brackets, like thesupporting brackets 17 illustrated in Fi s. 1 and 2, which brackets 17are secured to therear side of the lower 'aortion' of the chair-back 16,opposite each other. and each is formed to extend from the rear of thechair-back 16 around theed e thereof, thence forwardl and obliquelydownward for such distance as will adapt it to be pivotallv articulatedwith the lower end portions of the adjacent bars 10 and 11 as shown. tobe supported thereby in such manner that said bars 10 and 11 shallalwaysbe parallel with each other irrespective of their swingingmovements". The chair-back 16 thus mounted on supporting brackets of theform of the supporting bracket 17 provides greater space between thebottom edge of said chairback 16 and the floor whereby chairs embodyingmy invention may be adapted to operate when disposed in the balconv of atheater where the fioor'is raised immediately back of each row of chairs'sinc'e'the chair- I back *16 may lie-moved backwardlywithout causingits lower edge portion to engage with the raised floor behind it.

7 The pivots which articulate the suspension bars 10 and 11 with thesupporting bracket 17 comprise, each, a screw 18 which extends freelythrough a hole in the lower end portion of each of such suspension barsand thence screws into a screw-threaded hole provided in a thickenedportion of a lug 19 that is integral with such supporting bracket-17,and to prevent the pivots 18 from unscrewing and getting loose I providea set-screw 20 which is disposed, as shown, toextend upwardly throughsuch thickened portion of the lug 19 to engage the side of the pivot 18to hold it securely in its position in an obvious manner.

Each of the suspension bars 10 is longer than the suspension bars 11 toadapt it to extend downwardly as shown for a considerable distance belowthe point of its articulation with the supporting bracket 17 and to suchdownwardly extended end portionsof the oppositely disposed suspensionbars 10 are secured the angularly formed end portions of a cross brace21 by means of rivets 22 and 23, thus to rigidly unite such suspensionbars 10 to obviate any tendency they might have to move sidewise or tomove independently backward or forward in response to movements of theoccupant of the chair; and in order that the suspension bars 10 and 11may be normally and yieldinglymaintained in a vertical position I haveprovided a yielding detent spring'24 one of whose ends is secured to theadjacent front edge ofthe lower portion of the side portion 6 of thechair frame and which is formed to extend rearwardly to engage anindented portion-of it with the head of the rivet 23 as more clearlyshown in Fig. 5.

The detent spring 24. being disposed to act on the lower end of theextended portion of thesuspension bar 10 at a great distance fromits-point of suspension, need he adapted to yieldinglv exert onlyraslight pressure on the head of the rivet'23 in order normally tomaintain such suspension bar in a vertical position.

Disposed to extend between the two supporting brackets 17 is achair-seat 25 which is pivotallv attached to the supporting bracket 17by means of oppositely disposed pivot bearing brackets. like the pivotbearing'bracket 26. the pivot bolt 27, the washer 28 and the nut 29, asshown more clearly in Fig. 4, whereby such chair-seat 25 may be moved toswing from its normal horizontal position upwardly and backwardly tolean against the chair-back 16 in a manner well known and to prevent thefront portion of 'the chair-seat 25 from swinging downwardly below itshorizontal plane I have provided a lug 30 integral with the supportmgbracket 17 with whichthe adjacent bearing bracket 26 may engage to limitthe downwardly swinging movement of such front portion of thecha1r-seat.25.-

Obviously the side portions 60f the chair frame are of such constructionas will adapt them each to serve as one of the side portions of thechair frame of another adjacent of each of such side portions andbyreason' of their secured position on the floor of the auditorium.

It is important that the brackets '17 be pivotally attached to thesuspension bars 10 and 11' at points far below the chair-seat 25 inorder that such pivotal .pointsshall travel in the path of a largercircle when the chair-seat 25 is moved rearwardly thus to cause suchchair-seat 25 to be raised only a little higher than theplaneofitsnormal position even though such rearward movement be throughoutitsmaximum distance.

The operation of chairs embodying my invention may be described asfollows: lVhen a chair is unoccupied the chair-seat 25'is disposed withits front portion leaning against the chair-back 16 thus to permit aperson to pass in front of the chair close to the front edges of'theside portions 6, and

when the chair is to be occupied the chairseat 25 is turned swinginglydownward to a horizontal position,cas shown invFig. 1,'in which positionit will be supported by the lug 30 and the pivot bolt'27 and in such p0sition-the suspension bars-10 and 11 normally will be yieldingly held ina vertical position by detent spring 24 which normally engages with thehead of the rivet 23.

ioo

\Vhen seated-if the occupant wishes to permit a person to pass infrontof him, he simply braces his feet on the floor and presses hisbodyrbackwardly with a force sufficient to disengage the detent springs24 thus to release the suspension bars 10 topermit them to swingrearwardly to the position indicated. by dotted lines in Fig. 1, andafter such person haspassed him helets himselfswing forward untilthechair-seat 25 is in the normal. position shown in Fig. 1;Obviouslychanges may bemade in the forms. dimensions and arrangement ofparts of my invention without departing from the spirit thereof. i

What I claim is:

embodies two pairs of seat-suspension-bars,

the front bar of each pair being longer than the rear bars thereof; across brace disposed to extend between and fastened to the-lower endportions of said front bars, thus rigidly to unitetl nl; and yieldingdetent means operatively associated with the lower end portions of saidfront bars whereby said front bars may be yieldingly maintainedsubstantially in their natural position of suspension.

2. A chair of the class described, which embodies two pairs ofsuspension bars, a seat associated with said suspension bars to beswingingly suspended thereby; a crossbrace disposed to extend betweenand be fastened to the lower end portions of corresponding ones of thebars of said pairs thus to rigidly unite them; and yielding detent meansoperatively associated with the lower end portions of the rigidly unitedbars whereby said bars may normally and yieldingly be secured in theirnatural position of suspension.

In witness whereof, I, hereunto subscribe my name this 24th day ofDecember A. D., 1914:.

FREDRICK J. KERBEL.

Witnesses:

A. HASKINS, FRANK WARREN.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C.

